The Last Flowers

The nymph led the way back up the bank and started on a path parallel to the stream. Her pace was quick, her face excited. She urged Sarielle along with an insistent tug on her hand.

"She feels strong. I-I think she might be awake."

They came to an outcrop of rocks where a cliff dropped about three feet and the creek tumbled in a miniature waterfall. In a clearing on their right two figures were heading towards them.

Ellowyn let out a whimper and leapt into the grass below, launching herself into a sprint. Sarielle braced a rock to jump down and hurried after her. One of the figures was running to meet them.

"Ellowyn!" she cried, arms out.

"Willow." The nymph swamped her in a hug.

"Oh, my little twiglet. I'm so happy to see you." She broke into tears and buried her face in Ellowyn's hair.

Sarielle caught up to the two, but her attention switched to the other girl, a short creature with brown hair and eyes, who was waving frantically as she half-jogged.

"Sage?! Is that you?" Sarielle closed the distance between them.

The girl coughed and nodded, holding out her arms and letting Sae come to her. "Hello."

"I thought you were dead." She gave her a brief hug, and turned to walk with her to the nymphs.

They were still clinging to each other, but pulled apart as they drew near. Willow looked Ellowyn over, touching her arms and stroking her face as if checking she was put together right.

"Oh, Ellowyn, why do you have a flower out? You must put it away."

Ellowyn's face saddened. "But the elhuven likes it."

"That's lovely, but you must conserve energy. What you feel now won't last."

The flower closed up and sank into Ellowyn's hair. She stepped away from her friend to take Sarielle's hands. "I'm sorry. One day I'll show you a whole crown of flowers."

"What's her name?" Willow asked, as if to cheer her up.

"This is Sarielle."

"Welcome." Willow took her arm and kissed her on the lips. She was a tall nymph, with pale brown skin, big caramel coloured eyes, and chestnut hair that turned green at the tips.

Ellowyn bounced over to Sage. "And who are you?"

"I'm Sage," she replied, still trying to catch her breath.

Ellowyn hugged her tightly. "Thank you for saving Willow."

Sarielle was still trying to overcome her shock. "So, you just live out here..." she glanced at Willow "...with her?"

"Yes, she's my girlfriend. We have a shelter further south near an orchard."

Ellowyn ran her eyes over the girl's body in a blatant, but innocent manner. "How long have you been here?"

Sage's face went blank so Sarielle answered for her. "Four months." She tried not to sound annoyed. "Why didn't you come home?"

"At first I didn't want to. I liked it here with Willow. There was no one to tell me I was born wicked, or scorn me for showing my thighs when I reached for something. I'd only been here a couple of days when I fell deathly ill. Pneumonia, I think. Willow took care of me the whole time, with such love like no one's ever shown me." Her face became sad. "Once I was better I tried to go back. I thought if I told someone about the tree they could do something about it. Only I'd left it too late. I can get closer to the tree than Willow, but I can't get past it without losing strength and I'm worried it will attack me."

"What about travelling far enough to go around it?" Ellowyn asked.

"That cliff on the east side is impassable and the other has a valley that's too physically demanding for Sage," Willow told her.

Sage nodded. "I had an illness as a child that damaged my lungs, so it's hard for me to breathe. I'd also have to get closer to the tree to get there, so I'd have to leave Willow. I don't know how long it would take me and I was scared my parents would keep me at home. If I can't sleep with her she'll turn back into a tree." She grabbed the nymph's hand and showed them. "This is three days."

A leaf had sprouted between two fingers and her nails looked like flakes of bark. Her toes resembled carrots with fine roots at the tips.

"Are people missing me?" she asked Sarielle.

"Most assume you're dead. Some think you ran away, or were taken by something. Your parents have been defending your honour because a hunter claims he saw you and that you were pregnant,"

This clearly insulted her. "I don't know where he got that part, but yes, we did see one."

"It was probably me he saw with my stomach full of water," Willow said.

"Why didn't you ask him to take you back on his horse? He could protect you from the tree."

"And when we get close to the tree and I bend over and beg for him to take me?"

Sarielle saw her point. She wouldn't trust them either.

"What if I go back? I can still go near the tree and I'm already full of its fruit, so it can't do any more if we fix my lock."

"It could try to force more into you," Ellowyn pointed out. "It could kill you."

"It didn't kill me," Sage said. "I couldn't get enough oxygen and I fainted. When I woke up the tree had stopped. It wasn't even touching me. As soon as I moved it grabbed me again and started putting seeds in me, but it didn't put

that

many in me." She gestured to Sarielle's belly.

Sae rubbed it absentmindedly. "It did seem to know when I was full and it didn't try to put them in my mouth."

Willow nodded. "You think it's sentient, that it's learning?"

"If it kills the hosts they can't incubate its seeds," Ellowyn added.

Sage frowned. "Yet it's too stupid to know which hole to put them in?"

Willow cocked her head. "Perhaps. Then again, maybe its seeds don't need to be germinated like ours, just transported."

Sarielle thought for a moment. "What about the other girl, Yvette?"

"Yvette had asthma. She used to sit with me when she couldn't play. One time she told me her asthma was a sign from the gods because she always had bad attacks on days when girls were immoral. I don't think the tree killed her. I heard adults gossiping about the way she was found, bottom half exposed, but nothing about looking pregnant. Don't you think they would have mentioned it if she'd looked like you?"

With the way that town liked to talk, yes.

Sarielle put her hands on her hips. "Even if it never touched her, it still killed her. And it's going to die for it. I have spent the last year and a half being called a whore behind my back because of that fucking thing. I am going to kill it!"

The girls all stared at her in shock.

"You got a feisty one," Willow said to Ellowyn.

The nymph's lips hitched into a smile.

"How?" Sage asked.

"I don't know, but we have to do something before any more nymphs die. If we kill the tree they'll be able to change back."

"That's not true," Willow said in a sombre voice. "The tree drains our power. Even if you destroyed it, those trapped in their tree forms are too weak to transform. Ellowyn and I can give them some vitality, but the only way to revive them is through sexual contact with a compatible species."

So, any surviving nymphs were stuck like that until some woman randomly wandered into the forest? Without the tree to lure them in what was the chance of that? Fairly small, unless she told people about them being there. There was a risk the men would despise the idea of nymphs in the forest and might want to hurt them, so it would have to be secret, but maybe some women would volunteer to help. If not in Selrilve then from other places.

Sarielle turned to the nymphs. "There are other girls in the town. Some of them do naughty things with each other. I might be able to convince them to come here."

Ellowyn's face brightened. "Really? Oh, please ask them. Please do."

Sage shook her head. "I doubt any of them will come. If you'd asked me if I wanted to fornicate with a tree I would have taken you to church and made you pray."

Ellowyn was close to tears. "Do please try. It's so horrid knowing they're out there. Even if we could only save one it would be glorious."

"Maybe if I brought them here to meet the nymphs they'd warm up to the idea. In the very least they'd be safe. You don't know what it's like now, Sage. Your disappearance made things so much worse. The townsfolk are near delusional. Those chastity belts weren't enough for them, so now they've pierced our genitals shut. They've marked us with ribbons and denied the girls an education," she spat with a sneer. "Sometimes I sleep wondering if I'll wake up in shackles." She looked into Sage's eyes. "We can't fight it. The only way out is to run. And I'm taking as many of them with me as I can." She took Ellowyn's hand. "Would it be okay if they came here even if they don't want to help your friends, just until we could find a way to get everyone where they want to go?"

She smiled at her and blinked her sweet eyes. "Of course."

Silence fell over the group for several minutes. Sarielle tried to think what the best course of action was. Should she try to bring the girls first? Or recruit them to kill the tree first? Would any of them want to do either? She hardly spoke to most of them. They might not want to listen to her.

"I think we should ask the others to come here. We need their help. I doubt I'd be any use fighting a tree by myself. It's magic. Am I right in thinking we can't just cut it down?" Sarielle asked.

Willow nodded sagaciously. "That's correct."

"Then we need to find someone who knows magic. That means going to the next town. Even on horse that's a two day trip, and that's assuming Aroxville has what we're looking for. If we have to go further..." She shook her head. "It could take weeks. Who knows how bad Selrilve could get in that time." She put her hands on her hips. "Ellowyn, can you help me find my lock? I'm going to go back."

~

~*~:~*#E#*~:~*~

What an incredible day. It had started like any other and now Ellowyn was walking,

yes, walking!

through the forest with a cute little elhuven. It was such a shock to see her among the trees, more so that she came steadily towards her. Ellowyn was so excited she thought she might be imagining it. "Hello!" she'd tried to shout, but of course the woman couldn't hear her thoughts. Although Ellowyn had worried about her flower being small and having such little scent, the elhuven was awestruck by it and that made her happy. She even stuck her nose in it, dosing herself with the tiny amount of pollen Ellowyn had been able to produce. Ellowyn giggled at that, but felt bad for laughing as she could tell the curse tree had got to this girl by her aroused state. She was so desperate she couldn't resist hoping on her root. It was awkward at first for her, but she got there. For Ellowyn it was like the sun coming out as she was revitalised. What a pleasure to be brought back by something so beautiful. She didn't mean to startle her like she had. She just couldn't risk her stopping before the transformation was complete. Ellowyn didn't know what to expect after they were finished. She thought maybe the girl would want to leave. but Sarielle hung around and after they'd fixed that misunderstanding, had asked her lots of strange questions. And then fucked her again, which was lovely. As was seeing Willow again. She wondered who else might have survived apart from Amaranth. Hopefully some of Sarielle's friends would like the nymphs and help them. She just didn't like that it meant letting the elhuven go back by herself. Although they'd only just met, she didn't want to lose her.

"There it is." Sarielle scooped a handful of gold from the leaves.

Ellowyn took the object from her, turning it over in her hand. Using a rock, she smashed the pieces apart and started shaping them into rings. They weren't neat, but hopefully it would stop the tree.

Sarielle sat on the ground and parted her legs, holding her labia still for her. Ellowyn threaded a ring through her first set of holes and squeezed it closed. She did the same with the other holes, zipping her shut.

Sarielle got up and tested it out. "I'll try to be back as soon as I can."

"I'll wait for you here." Ellowyn hugged her and kissed her cheek. "Be careful."

Ellowyn strolled over to the spot she'd taken root, by the hole in the ground where her feet had been buried. She watched Sarielle until she was out of sight, before quickly leaving to go to the stream. She drank as much as she could, filling her elastic stomach with the water she'd need to keep hydrated for an extended period. Despite Willow's warning not to, she wanted to wait for Sarielle.

Her belly stretched round like a heavily pregnant woman, she waddled back to sit on the hill. An hour passed. She was used to doing nothing, but time was more noticeable in this form. Thinking she'd go visit Amaranth quickly, she tracked back to the nymph's position.

"I'll keep you company for a while." She gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

Being near her made her miserable. Amaranth was sick. She had only one tiny red flower and a scattering of leaves.

"Would you like some water, Ammy?"

She moved closer, so her crotch rubbed Amaranth's root. She wrapped her arms around her trunk and lifted herself so the tip slid between her labia into her opening. Lowering herself, she waited until her juices started to flow before starting to fuck herself. Her bulging belly bounced, sloshing water around audibly. Ellowyn put one arm over her tummy to hold it still. It had been a long time since she'd fucked Amaranth in this form. Not since they were young and tried it as a novelty. It wasn't much fun when your partner was that...stiff. The situation made her sad, but Amaranth would be back to her old self soon, she just knew it.

"What did you think of the elhuven? She's pretty, isn't she?"

It was hard to have a one-sided conversation, so Ellowyn focused on hammering Amaranth's root into her snatch. She felt fat and heavy trying to hold that much water still while it wobbled about. The noise made her giggle and she knew Amaranth was probably laughing at her too.

Ellowyn rode her friend's dehydrated root hard, wishing it were bigger. Her own root had swollen with water, doubling in width and lengthening by two inches. It stood firm under her distended tummy, bobbing up and down with her thrusts. Her pussy dribbled onto Amaranth's trunk as it clenched the intruder. She gritted her teeth as she came and a stream of cum shot out of her root, hitting Amaranth's trunk. The fluid flowed out of her, light in colour from the amount of water she'd taken in. It kept spurting, half a litre of the stuff drenching Amaranth's bark. The moisture was quickly absorbed by the thirsty nymph and a handful of leaves unfurled on her branches. Three flowers, closer to their normal size opened up. They fluttered open and closed in celebration.

Ellowyn chuckled at her friend's delight. "Is that better?"

They blinked twice.

She removed herself from her friend's root. "You better put them away before Willow catches you with them out. We're meant to be conserving energy."

The flowers wilted.

"I know, but Sarielle's trying to convince the women in her village to come here. If she can, I'm sure one will take a liking to you."

Amaranth closed her flowers.

"I'm going to wait for her."

Ellowyn patted her trunk and darted away through the trees. She sat by her hole and waited. The sky turned grey and Ellowyn grew ever more worried for the elhuven. What if something had happened to her? What if she never came back?

She felt the presence of a nymph growing steadily closer, but she remained where she was.

"Ellowyn," Willow's voice carried through the air.

"I'm waiting for Sarielle."

The leaves crunched and the tall nymph crouched beside her. "You can't wait here." She touched her arm. "She may not even come back. You have get further away or you'll turn back into a tree."

"If she doesn't come back I'll turn into a tree anyway," she said without looking at her.

"It doesn't have to be that way. We could...I could give you nutrients and I'm sure Sage—"

"I'd rather be a tree than guilt that elhuven into sleeping with me every few days."

Willow threw her arms around her and burst into tears. When she quietened down, she kissed her cheek in goodbye and slipped away into the trees.

~

~*~:~*#A#*~:~*~

Aster dunked the stiff brush into her bucket and scrubbed the carriage's huge wheel. Her mother had given her a list of jobs to do as punishment, a much better outcome than she'd been expecting. Her mother didn't care so much anymore. Aster was already ruined and a girl couldn't get her pregnant, so some name-calling and a few chores was the end of it.

"After you've finished the carriage you're to give yourself a bath," her mother shouted from the doorway. "Under the

outside

pump. If you want to act like a dirty animal you can bathe like one."

Aster rolled her eyes. She threw the last of the water over the wheel and took the bucket to the pump. The well water was cold and although the nearest house was some way away, the courtyard offered little screening to anyone passing by. Aster squatted on the ground under the pump and moved the handle to bring water to the spout. She left her clothes on, only taking them off when her mother brought her a bar of soap. A quicker lather and rinse she'd never accomplished. Then she was at the door, peering inside with a sheepish look, hair dripping. Her mother saw her and brought her a towel. She made her stand in front of the fire and got her some clean clothes.

Her mother sat down in her chair and sighed. "Why a girl, Aster? Are you trying to embarrass me?"

"No, Mother. I never meant for that to happen."

"Then why did I come home to find you straightening your clothes with the watchmaker's daughter?"

Aster shrugged her dress over her shoulders and pulled it over her breasts. "It was like last time. Something possessed me."

She chuckled.

"It did! I've never thought of doing anything like that with Kerensa, I swear by the gods. It's a hex, mother. Why won't you believe me?"

She shook her head in dismay. "I had a friend who said something similar when she was your age. She ran off somewhere, probably so she could continue on a path of sin."

"If my experience is not unique then there must be an external cause." She pleaded with her eyes. "You don't truly believe all the women are corrupt by nature, yourself included?"

"It doesn't matter what I believe anymore." She got out of her chair and started to walk away. "You'd best get the vegetables for dinner if you didn't manage it earlier."

Aster went out to get a pumpkin, eyeing off the newly replanted turnips. She didn't know if she could ever look at one again without thinking of Kerensa's bare butt and her pussy dripping juices from its gold bars. Just what had overcome her today? It was definitely the same explosive, horny feeling that got her in trouble in the past. She'd been lucky the other couple of times she'd felt it she'd been alone and able to quench the urges herself.

She found a good-sized pumpkin and cut it free from the vine. When she stood up she saw a girl with blackish hair sneaking around the side of the stable to wave at her. Kerensa must have come to talk about what happened. The younger woman was probably more confused than she was. Why was she on the southern side of the house? She must be trying to stay out of sight.

Aster took the pumpkin with her, leaving it on the doorstep on her way to the fence. Her visitor was flush against the stable wall to hide from the house. A bush on the fence line meant Aster didn't see her clearly until she was climbing over. She froze when she saw a different face to the one she was expecting.

"Sae?" She brought her second leg over slowly.

Sarielle didn't seem to notice her surprise. "I need your help."

She looked like she needed help. Her skirt was torn, her blouse dirt-stained and crinkled.